Lesson 20 African Americans in The Mid 1800s

A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N S I N...
By 1850, the population of the United States had grown to just over 23
million. This figure included 3.6 million African Americans. The great
majority of African Americans lived in slavery. Harriet Powers was one
of them.
Powers was born into slavery in Georgia in 1837. Like many slaves, she
grew up hearing Bible stories. In her quilts, she used animals and
figures from Africa and the United States to illustrate those stories,
along with scenes from her life. Hidden in her images were messages of
hope and freedom for slaves.
Not all African Americans were slaves. By mid-century, there were

about half a million free blacks as well. Many were former slaves who
had escaped to freedom.
Whether African Americans lived in slavery or freedom, discrimination

(unequal treatment) shaped their lives. Throughout the country, whites
looked down on blacks. Whites ignored the contributions blacks made
to American life. They thought of the United States as “their country.”
Such racist thinking later prompted African American scholar and
reformer W. E. B. Du Bois to ask,
Your country? How came it to be yours? Before the Pilgrims

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A
landed
we were here. Here we brought you our three gifts and
mingled them
with yours; a gift of story and song, soft, stirring melody in
an . . .
unmelodious land; the gift of sweat and brawn [physical
strength]
to beat back the wilderness . . . and lay the foundations of
this
vast economic empire . . . the third, a gift of the Spirit.
In this chapter, you will explore how African Americans faced and
endured discrimination and slavery in the mid-1800s. You will also learn
more about the gifts that African Americans brought to America.
The experiences of African Americans in the mid-1800s depended on

where they lived and whether they lived in slavery or freedom. Former
slave Frederick Douglass toured the North talking to white audiences
about slavery. To him, the biggest difference between slaves and free
blacks was their legal status. Free blacks had some rights by law. Slaves
did not. Whether free or slave, however, the lives of African Americans
were shaped by racism, the belief that one race is superior to another.
Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

Slaves' Legal Status The law defined slaves as property. Legally,
slaveholders could do almost anything with their slaves. They could buy
and sell slaves. They could leave slaves to their children or heirs. They
could give slaves away to settle a bet. But in many states, they could
not set slaves free.
As property, slaves had none of the rights that free people took for
granted. “In law, the slave has no wife, no children, no country, no
home,” Douglass said. “He can own nothing, possess nothing, acquire
nothing.”
Rural and Urban Slaves Most slaves worked on farms and plantations
across the South. By 1860, there were also about 70,000 slaves living
in towns and cities. Most were hired out, or sent to work in factories,
mills, or workshops. The wages they earned belonged to their owners.
Often, urban slaves were allowed to “live out” on their own, rather than
under the watchful eyes of their owners. Because of such freedom,
observed Douglass, “A city slave is almost a freeman, compared with a
slave on the plantation.”
Free Blacks in the South About half of all free African Americans
lived in the South. Most worked as laborers, craftspeople, or household
servants in towns and cities.
Many white Southerners viewed free blacks as a dangerous group that

had to be controlled so that, in the words of South Carolina
slaveholders, they would not create “discontent among our slaves.”
Free blacks were forbidden to own guns. They could not travel freely
from town to town or state to state. Blacks were not allowed to work at
certain jobs. Such restrictions led Douglass to conclude, “No colored
man is really free in a slaveholding state.”

Free Blacks in the North African Americans in the North lived freer
lives. But blacks experienced discrimination, or unequal treatment,
everywhere they turned. In many states, African Americans were
denied the right to vote. They had trouble finding good jobs. In the
1850s, some 87 percent of free blacks in New York held low-paying
jobs. “Why should I strive hard?” asked one young African American.
“What are my prospects? . . . No one will employ me; white boys won't
work with me.”
In addition to unequal treatment, policies of segregation separated

blacks from whites in nearly all public places. Black children were often
denied entry into public schools. Those states that did educate black
children set up separate schools for that purpose. A New Yorker
observed around 1860,
Even the noblest black is denied that which is free to the

vilest [worst]
white. The omnibus, the [railroad] car, the ballot-box, the
jury box,
the halls of legislation, the army, the public lands, the

school, the
church, the lecture room, the social circle, the [restaurant]
table,
are all either absolutely or virtually denied to him.
Douglass discovered how deeply rooted this racism was when he tried
to join a church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and was turned away.
“I tried all the other churches in New Bedford with the same result,” he
wrote.
African Americans responded to discrimination by organizing to help

themselves. In 1816, Richard Allen, a former slave, became the first
bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The AME, which still
exists today, quickly became a center of African American life. Allen
also created organizations to improve the lives of blacks, such as the
African Society for the Education of Youth.
Other Northern blacks started their own schools, churches, and self-
help organizations. In 1853, free blacks formed the National Council of
Colored People to protest the unequal treatment they received. Such
treatment, the council declared, “would humble the proudest, crush the
energies of the strongest, and retard the progress of the swiftest.” That
blacks were neither humbled nor crushed by prejudice and
discrimination was evidence of their courage and spirit.

Only wealthier planters could afford to buy slaves. The great majority of
white Southerners did not own slaves. Why, then, did the South remain
so loyal to slavery? Part of the answer to that question lies in the
growth of the Southern economy after the invention of the cotton gin in
1793.
The cotton gin made cotton a hugely profitable cash crop in the South.
In 1790, the South produced just 3,000 bales of cotton. By the 1850s,
production had soared to more than 4 million bales a year. Cotton
brought new wealth to the South. Robert Fogel, a historian who has
studied the economics of slavery, wrote,
If we treat the North and South as separate nations . . . the

South would stand as the fourth most prosperous nation of
the world in 1860 . . . more prosperous than France,
Germany, Denmark, or any of the countries in Europe
except England.
Whether they owned slaves or not, white Southerners understood that

their economy depended on cotton. They also knew that cotton planters

depended on slave labor to grow their profitable crop. For planters with
few or no slaves, however, the prospect of owning slaves became less
likely as the demand for, and the price of, slaves rose.
High prices were both good and bad for the men and women trapped in
slavery. As prices went up, slaves became more valuable to their
owners. This may have encouraged slaveholders to take better care of
their workers. At the same time, the rising value of their slaves made
slaveholders less willing to listen to talk of ending slavery. In their eyes,
freeing their slaves could only mean one thing: utter financial ruin.

Slaves worked on farms of various sizes. On small farms, owners and

slaves worked side by side in the fields. On large plantations, planters
hired overseers to supervise their slaves. Overseers were paid to “care
for nothing but to make a large crop.” To do this, they tried to get the
most work possible out of the slaves who worked in the fields.
About three-quarters of rural slaves were field hands who toiled from
dawn to dark tending crops. An English visitor described a field hand's
day:
He is called up in the morning at day break, and is seldom

allowed time enough to swallow three mouthfuls of hominy
[boiled corn], or hoecake [cornbread], but is driven out
immediately to the field to hard labor . . . About noon . . . he
eats his dinner, and he is seldom allowed an hour for that
purpose . . . Then they return to severe labor, which
continues
until dusk.
Even then, a slave's workday was not finished. After dark, there was still
water to carry, wood to split, pigs to feed, corn to shuck, cotton to
clean, and other chores to be done. One slave recalled,
I never know what it was to rest. I just work all the time
from
morning till late at night. I had to do everything there was
to do
on the outside. Work in the field, chop wood, hoe corn, till
sometime I feels like my back surely break.
Not all slaves worked in the fields. Some were skilled seamstresses,
carpenters, or blacksmiths. Others worked in the master's house as
cooks or servants. When asked about her work, a house slave replied,
What kind of work I did? . . . I cooked, [then] I was house

maid,
an' I raised I don't know how many [children] . . . I was
always
good when it come to [the] sick, so [that] was mostly my
job.
No matter how hard they worked, slaves could never look forward to an
easier life. Most began work at the age of six and continued until they
died. As one man put it, “Slave young, slave long.”
Most masters viewed their slaves as they did their land—things to be

“worn out, not improved.” They provided only what was needed to keep
their slaves healthy enough to work. Slaves lived crowded together in
rough cabins. One recalled,
We lodged in log huts, and on bare ground. Wooden floors

were an unknown luxury. In a single room were huddled,
like cattle, ten or a dozen persons, men, women, and
children . . . We had neither bedsteads, nor furniture of any
description. Our beds were collections of straw and old
rags, thrown down in the corners.
Slaves seldom went hungry. “Not to give a slave enough to eat,”

reported Frederick Douglass, “is regarded as . . . meanness [stinginess]
even among slaveholders.” Slaves received rations of cornmeal, bacon,
and molasses. Many kept gardens or hunted and fished to vary their
diets. The owner described below fed his slaves well:
Marse [master] Alec had plenty for his slaves to eat. There
was
meat, bread, collard greens, snap beans, 'taters, peas, all
sorts of
dried fruit, and just lots of milk and butter.
Slaves wore clothing made of coarse homespun linen or rough “Negro

cloth.” Northern textile mills made this cloth especially for slave
clothes. Douglass reported that a field hand received a yearly
allowance of “two coarse linen shirts, one pair of linen trousers . . . one
jacket, one pair of trousers for winter, made of coarse Negro cloth, one
pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes.” Children too young to work
received “two coarse linen shirts per year. When these failed them,
they went naked” until the next year.
While slaves were poorly housed and clothed compared to most white
Southerners, they were more likely to receive medical care.
Slaveholders often hired doctors to treat sick or injured slaves. Given
doctors' limited medical knowledge, this care probably did little to
improve slaves' health.

Slavery was a system of forced labor. To make this system work,

slaveholders had to keep slaves firmly under control. Some
slaveholders used harsh punishments—beating, whipping, branding,
and other forms of torture—to maintain that control. But punishments
often backfired on slaveholders. A slave who had been badly whipped
might not be able to work for some time. Harsh punishments were also
likely to make slaves feel more resentful and rebellious.
Slaveholders preferred to control their workforce by making slaves feel

totally dependent on their masters. Owners encouraged such
dependence by treating their slaves like grown-up children. They also
kept their workers as ignorant as possible about the world beyond the
plantation. Frederick Douglass's master said that a slave “should know
nothing but to obey his master—to do as it is told to do.”
Slaves who failed to learn this lesson were sometimes sent to slave-
breakers. Such men were experts at turning independent, spirited
African Americans into humble, obedient slaves. When he was 16,
Douglass was sent to a slave breaker named Edward Covey.

Covey's method consisted of equal parts violence, fear, and overwork.
Soon after Douglass arrived on Covey's farm, he received his first
whipping. After that, he was beaten so often that “aching bones and a
sore back were my constant companions.”
Covey's ability to instill fear in his slaves was as effective as his

whippings. Slaves never knew when he might be watching them. “He
would creep and crawl in ditches and gullies,” Douglass recalled, to spy
on his workers.
Finally, Covey worked his slaves beyond endurance. Wrote Douglass,
We worked in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold;

it
could never rain, blow, hail, or snow too hard for us to work
in
the field . . . The longest days were too short for him, and
the
shortest nights too long for him. I was somewhat
unmanageable
when I first got there, but a few months of this discipline
tamed
me . . . I was broken in body, soul, and spirit . . . The dark
night
of slavery closed in upon me.
Despite the efforts of slaveholders to crush their spirits, slaves found

countless ways to resist slavery. As former slave Harriet Jacobs wrote
after escaping to freedom, “My master had power and law on his side. I
had a determined will. There is might [power] in each.”
Day-to-Day Resistance For most slaves, resistance took the form of

quiet, or passive, acts of rebellion. Field hands pulled down fences,
broke tools, and worked so sloppily that they damaged crops. House
slaves sneaked food out of the master's kitchen.
Slaves pretended to be dumb, clumsy, sick, or insane to get out of

work. One slave avoided working for years by claiming to be nearly
blind, only to regain his sight once freed.
In some instances, resistance turned deadly when house servants put

poison into slave owners' food. So many slaves set fire to their owners'
homes and barns that the American Fire Insurance Company refused to
insure property in the South.
Open Defiance Quiet resistance sometimes flared into open defiance.

When pushed too hard, slaves refused to work, rejected orders, or
struck back violently. Owners often described slaves who reacted in
this way as “insolent” (disrespectful) or “unmanageable.”
Frederick Douglass reached his breaking point one day when the slave
breaker Covey began to beat him for no particular reason. Rather than
take the blows, as he had so many times before, Douglass fought back.
He wrestled Covey to the ground, holding him “so firmly by the throat
that his blood followed my nails.” For Douglass, this moment was “the
turning point in my career as a slave.”
My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold

defiance
took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I
might remain
a slave in form, the day had passed when I could be a slave
in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me, that the
white
man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also
succeed in
killing me.

Covey knew this and never laid a hand on Douglass again.
Running Away Some slaves tried to escape by running away to

freedom in the North. The risks were enormous. Slaveholders hired
professional slave catchers and their packs of bloodhounds to hunt
down runaway slaves. If caught, a runaway risked being mauled by
dogs, brutally whipped, or even killed. Still, Douglass and countless
other slaves took the risk.
Slaves found many ways to escape bondage. Some walked to freedom

in the North, hiding by day and traveling at night when they could
follow the North Star. Others traveled north by boat or train, using
forged identity cards and clever disguises to get past watchful slave
patrols. A few runaways mailed themselves to freedom in boxes or
coffins.

Thousands of runaways escaped to free states and to Canada with the

help of the Underground Railroad, a secret network of free blacks
and sympathetic whites. The members of the Underground Railroad
provided transportation and “safe houses” where runaways could hide.
A number of guides, or “conductors,” risked their lives to help escaping
slaves travel the “freedom train.” One of the most successful was
Harriet Tubman. Having escaped slavery herself, Tubman courageously
returned to the South approximately 20 times between 1850 and 1860,
guiding more than 300 men, women, and children to freedom.
Rebellion At times, resistance erupted into violent rebellion. Slave

revolts occurred in cities, on plantations, and even on ships at sea. Fear
of slave uprisings haunted slaveholders. Planters, wrote one visitor to
the South, “never lie down to sleep without . . . loaded pistols at their
sides.”
In 1822, authorities in Charleston, South Carolina, learned that

Denmark Vesey, a free black, was preparing to lead a sizable revolt of
slaves. Vesey, along with more than 30 slaves, was arrested and
hanged.

Nine years later, in 1831, a slave named Nat Turner led a bloody
uprising in Virginia. In what became known as Nat Turner's
Rebellion, Turner and his followers set out to kill every white person
they could find. Armed with axes and guns, they killed at least 57
people over a period of two days.
Vesey's and Turner's rebellions panicked white Southerners. In

response, Southern states passed strict slave codes that tightened
owners' control of their slaves and provided for harsher punishment of
slaves by authorities. As one frightened Virginian remarked, “A Nat
Turner might be in any family.”

Slavery made community and family life difficult. Legally, slave families
did not exist. No Southern state recognized slave marriages. Legal
control of slave children rested not with their parents, but with their
masters. Owners could break up slave families at any time by selling a
father, a mother, or a child to someone else. Of all the things they
endured, slaves most feared being sold away from their loved ones.
Most slaves grew up in families headed by a father and mother. Unable

to marry legally, slaves created their own weddings, which often
involved the tradition of jumping over a broomstick. One slave recalled,
The preacher would say to the man, “Do you take this
woman to
be your wife?” He says, “Yes.” “Well, jump the broom.”
After he
jumped, the preacher would say the same to the woman.
When
she jumped, the preacher said, “I pronounce you man and
wife.”
Caring for children was never easy. Booker T. Washington's mother

“snatched a few moments for our care in the early morning before her
work began, and at night after the day's work was done.” Still, parents
found time to teach the lessons children would need to survive.
Silence around whites was one such lesson. Elijah Marrs recalled that
“Mothers were necessarily compelled to be severe on their children to
keep them from talking too much.” Obedience was another lesson.
William Webb's mother taught him “not to rebel against the men that
were treating me like some dumb brute, making me work and refusing
to let me learn.”
Parents also taught their children other essential lessons about caring,
kindness, pride, and hope. They taught them to respect themselves
and other members of the slave community, especially older slaves.
“There is not to be found, among any people,” wrote Douglass, “a more
rigid enforcement of the law of respect to elders.”
These were the lessons that helped slaves, under the most difficult
conditions, to create loving families and close communities. In doing so,
they met the most basic of human needs—the need for a place to feel
loved, respected, and safe.
These simple words capture the constant weariness that slaves

endured:
Come day,
Go day,
God send Sunday.
Slaves toiled all week in fields that seemed to stretch “from one end of
the earth to the other.” But, on Saturday night and Sunday, their time
was their own.
Saturday nights were a time for social events, like corn-husking or pea-
shelling parties. These social events combined work and fun. One slave
recalled,
I've seen many a corn huskin' at ole Major's farm when the
corn
would be piled as high as the house. Two sets of men
would start
huskin' from opposite sides of the heap. It would keep one
man
busy just getting the husks out of the way, and the corn
would be
thrown over the husker's head and filling the air like birds.
The
women usually had a quilting at those times, so they were
pert
and happy.
A quilting bee was one of the rare times when slave women could
gather to work and talk. In those few precious hours, they were free to
express themselves with needle and cloth. The quilts they created were
not only beautiful, but also very much needed as bedding for their
families.
After the sewing, men joined the party for a “quilting feast” and
dancing. Slaves made music out of almost anything. “Stretch cowhides
over cheese-boxes and you had tambourines,” one former slave
recalled. “Saw bones from off a cow, knock them together, and call it a
drum. Or use broom-straws, on fiddle-strings, and you had your entire
orchestra.”
Sunday was a day for religion and recreation. Slaves spent their
Sundays going to church, eating, hunting, fishing, dancing, singing,
telling tales, naming babies, playing games, and visiting with friends. In
New Orleans, hundreds of slaves gathered on Sunday afternoons in
public spaces to dance, sing, and talk. All of these activities helped
African Americans forget the sorrows of slavery.
Many slaveholders encouraged their slaves to attend church on Sunday.

Some read the Bible to their workers and prayed with them. Owners
and white ministers preached the same message: “If you disobey your
earthly master, you offend your heavenly Master.”
Not surprisingly, this was not a popular lesson among slaves. “Dat ole
white preacher [just] was telling us slaves to be good to our marsters,”
recalled Cornelius Garner. “We ain't kerr'd a bit 'bout dat stuff he was
telling us 'cause we wanted to sing, pray, and serve God in our own
way.”
Instead, slaves created their own “invisible church” that brought

together African roots and American needs. This invisible church met in
slave quarters or secret forest clearings known as “hush arbors.” One
slave reported that,
When [slaves] go round singing, “Steal Away to Jesus” that

mean
there going to be a religious meeting that night. The
masters . . .
didn't like them religious meetings, so us naturally slips off

at
night, down in the bottoms or somewheres. Sometimes us
sing
and pray all night.
Rather than teach about obedience, black preachers told the story of
Moses leading his people out of slavery in Egypt. Black worshipers sang
spirituals that expressed their desire for freedom and faith in a better
world to come. One black preacher wrote,
The singing was accompanied by a certain ecstasy of

motion,
clapping of hands, tossing of heads, which would continue
without
cessation [stopping] about half an hour . . . The old house
partook of their ecstasy; it rang with their jubilant shouts,
and
shook in all its joints.
Whites sometimes criticized the enthusiasm of black worshipers, saying

they lacked true religious feeling. Many slaves, however, believed it was
their masters who lacked such feeling. “You see,” explained one man,
“religion needs a little motion—specially if you gwine [going to] feel de
spirit.”
Religion helped slaves bear their suffering and still find joy in life. In
their prayers and spirituals, they gave voice to their deepest longings,
their greatest sorrows, and their highest hopes.
Africans arrived in the United States speaking many languages and

following many cultural traditions. To survive, they had to learn a new
language—English—and adopt a new way of life. Yet they did not forget
their African roots. Across the South, slaves combined their old
traditions and new realities to create a distinctive African American
culture.

This combining of cultures is evident in Harriet Powers's story quilt. In

square after square, Powers used animals from Africa and America to
illustrate Bible stories that she learned as a slave on a Georgia
plantation. The doves in her quilt are symbols of a slave's yearning for
freedom. As one spiritual expressed, “Had I the wings of a dove, I'd fly
away and be at rest.”
You can also hear this combining of cultures in the songs and spirituals
sung by slaves. These songs throb with the rhythms and harmonies of
Africa, but speak about the realities of slavery. Slaves sang about faith,
love, work, and the kindness and cruelty of masters. They also
expressed their oppression, as in this song recorded by Frederick
Douglass:
We raise the wheat, dey gib [they give] us the corn;

We bake the bread, dey gib us the cruss;
We sif the meal, dey gib us the huss;
We peel the meat, dey gib us the skin;
And dat's the way dey takes us in.
Slave dances were based on African traditions as well. Dancing helped

slaves to put aside their cares, express their feelings, and refresh their

spirits. According to one former slave, good dancers “could play a tune
with their feet, dancing largely to an inward music, a music that was
felt, but not heard.”
African legends and folktales survived in the stories and jokes told by
slaves. For example, Br'er Rabbit, the sly hero of many slave tales, was
based on the African trickster Shulo the Hare. In these stories, the small
but clever brother rabbit always managed to outwit larger, but duller,
brother bear or brother fox—just as slaves hoped to outwit their more
powerful masters.
In this chapter, you learned what life was like for African
Americans during the 1800s.
North and South, Slave and Free African Americans had a great
impact on the development of American life. The South's economy was
built on slave labor. Some blacks lived in freedom in the North and
South, but nowhere could they escape racism and discrimination.
The Economics of Slavery Most white Southerners did not own

slaves. Whether they owned slaves or not, whites understood that the
South's economy depended on cotton and the slave labor needed to
grow it.
Working and Living Conditions of Slaves All slaves worked

constantly—in the fields, as house servants, or at skilled trades. Most
slaves lived in simple, dirt-floor cabins.
Controlling Slaves and Resistance to Slavery Some slave owners

used harsh punishments to control slaves. Most slaves resisted slavery
using quiet acts of rebellion, while some fought back openly. At great
risk, many tried to run away. Some slaveholders would rather kill
runaways than allow them to escape.
Slave Families, Leisure, and Churches Enslaved African Americans

created families and communities under the most difficult conditions.
Slaves spent Saturday nights at social events and worshiped in their
own churches on Sundays. They prayed and sang spirituals to help
themselves find joy and hope in their hard lives.
African American Culture Africans brought many languages and

cultural traditions to the United States. The combination of old and new
cultural traditions was expressed through their quilts, songs, dances,
and folktales.

No one did more to help enslaved African Americans escape

slavery than Harriet Tubman. People began to call her Moses
for her role in guiding people to freedom in the North. But first,
she had to get there herself.
In the fall of 1849, Harriet Tubman decided to escape her life as a slave.
She had been born into slavery in eastern Maryland, sometime around
1820. When she heard that she would be sold to a new owner farther
south, she decided to flee.
It was not an easy decision. She would have to leave her family behind,
including her husband, who refused to go. She also knew that women
rarely managed to escape on their own. If she were caught, she would
be severely punished and perhaps killed. But she felt she had no
choice. “I had reasoned this out in my mind,” she later recalled. “There
was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not
have one, I would have the other.”
Like most slaves, Tubman had led a hard life. She had been whipped
repeatedly and forced to labor in the fields. She once suffered a near-

fatal injury when an overseer struck her in the head with a lead weight.
For the rest of her life, she would periodically and unexpectedly fall into
a deep sleep. But her experiences also gave her strength and taught
her how to survive. She would need that strength on her flight north.
Tubman left at night, under cover of darkness. She had no idea where
to go, but fortunately there were people to help her. They were part of
the Underground Railroad, the name people gave to a network of safe
houses and escape routes leading to the North. The safe houses were
known as “stations” and the people who ran them as “stationmasters.”
These men and women—and sometimes children—put their lives at risk
to help slaves escape to freedom.
Not wanting to endanger those who helped her, Tubman never revealed
the details of her escape. But she probably took a route heading
northeast to Delaware and then to Pennsylvania. It was a journey she
would take many times later, when she had become the most famous
“conductor” on the Underground Railroad.
Crossing to Freedom
Tubman's first stop was the home of a sympathetic white woman who
lived nearby. This woman told her how to find the nearest safe house.
Tubman walked through the night to get there. When she arrived, a
woman opened the door, handed her a broom, and told her to sweep
the yard. This puzzled Tubman until she realized that playing the part
of a black servant would help avoid suspicion.
When the woman's husband came home that evening, he hid Tubman
in his wagon, drove her out of town, and dropped her off with directions
to the next safe house. For the rest of her journey, Tubman went from
one “station” to the next at night and hid during the day.

Most of the time she traveled on foot, staying out of sight. Slave
catchers were a real danger, so she avoided roads and listened for the
sound of bloodhounds on her trail. She knew that one careless mistake
could lead to her capture.
She left Maryland and crossed into Delaware. But she was still not safe.
Although Delaware was a free state, slave catchers worked there, and
many people would turn over a fugitive for the reward money.
Finally, after two or three weeks on the run, Tubman crossed the
Pennsylvania border, a dividing line between North and South. Now she
was truly free. Years later she recalled that moment:
I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There

was such a glory over everything. The sun came like gold
through the trees and over the fields, and I felt like I was in
heaven.

Refuge in Philadelphia
Tubman went to Philadelphia, which was then home to thousands of

African Americans, including many escaped slaves. The city had a
strong abolitionist community and was a center of the Underground
Railroad. Tubman soon found work and settled into her new life.
But she would not remain at rest for long. She missed her family in
Maryland and could not bear the idea that they were still living in
slavery. “I was free,” she said, “and they should be free.”

Riding the Liberty Lines
By the fall of 1850, Tubman decided to act. She had learned that one of
her sister's daughters, a niece named Kizzy, was going to be sold south.
Kizzy had two children, and Tubman was determined to rescue all three
of them. No one knows exactly how she did it, but Harriet managed to
slip into Maryland and bring all of them north.
The following spring, she made another trip, this time to get one of her
brothers. A few months later, she brought back a second brother, along
with ten other people. Eventually she would rescue most of her family,
including her elderly parents. She took most of them to Canada, where
they could not be seized by slave catchers and returned to their
owners.
Tubman could not have made these trips without the help of the
Underground Railroad. She followed routes, known as “liberty lines,”
and made use of Underground Railroad safe houses. Some of these
houses had tunnels and secret closets where fugitives could hide.

She also relied on “agents” such as Thomas Garrett and William Still.
Garrett was a white stationmaster in Wilmington, Delaware, who helped
more than 2,500 slaves escape from the South. Still, an African
American, was an important leader of the antislavery movement in
Philadelphia. These and other members of the Underground Railroad
were critical to Tubman's success over the years.
Another secret to her success was her methods. She usually made her
trips in the fall and winter, when the nights were long and people
tended to stay indoors. She always set out on a Saturday night. Sunday
was usually a slave's only day off, so slave owners might not miss
absent slaves until Monday morning. When nearing a hiding place
where fugitives were waiting, Tubman would sing a special song. These
songs were a kind of code to signal her presence or to provide
instructions.
Sometimes she wore disguises, such as men's clothing. Once, when she
ran into a former owner, she pulled her hat over her face and
pretended to read a newspaper. The man, who assumed his former
slave could not read, never realized who she was.
One admirer recalled, “She could elude patrols and pursuers with as
much ease and unconcern as an eagle would soar through the
heavens.” She was also fearless. When she developed a bad toothache
during one escape, she used a pistol to knock her teeth out and ease
the pain.
The Rescue of Joe Bailey
Between 1852 and 1860, Tubman made one or more trips a year into
the South. Blacks soon began calling her Moses, the leader who guided
her people to freedom. As Moses's reputation grew, slave owners
demanded the capture of this mysterious person who was leading their
slaves away. But they did not know who Moses was or even that she
was a woman.
On one trip in November 1856, Tubman brought five people north,

including a man named Joe Bailey. Bailey was highly valued by his
owner, who offered $1,500 for his return. A $12,000 bounty was also
placed on the head of “Moses.”
After a risky escape from Maryland, Tubman and her party reached the
outskirts of Wilmington. There, Thomas Garrett hid them under a
wagonload of hay and helped them get through the city. From there,
they went to Philadelphia and New York, on their way to Canada.

Bailey got a shock in New York, however. There, a man identified him
from a poster advertising a reward for his capture. Fortunately, the
man was an abolitionist. Nonetheless, Bailey was plunged into gloom,
fearing he would never make it out of the country without getting
caught. He failed to cheer up for the rest of the journey, even refusing
to look as he passed by Niagara Falls and crossed into Canada.
At that point, Tubman shook him, saying, “Joe, you're free!” Bailey
looked up, saw where he was, and burst into tears. Then he began to
sing:
Glory to God and Jesus too;

One more soul is safe!
Oh, go and carry the news;
One more soul got safe!
Tubman's Legacy
It is said that Harriet Tubman made almost 20 trips on the Underground

Railroad and freed more than 300 people. In all of her journeys, she
said, “I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”
She made her last trip shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, in
1861.
During the war, she joined the Union cause as a nurse and a spy. On
one raid into South Carolina, she helped free several hundred slaves
from captivity.
After the war, Tubman became a strong voice in the fight for women's
rights and racial justice. But it was her daring work with the
Underground Railroad that made her a great hero and liberator of her
people.
For African American slaves, resistance was extraordinarily difficult.

Some slaves carried out courageous acts of quiet resistance, such as
gathering in groups when forbidden by law or teaching one another to
read. Some slaves rose up in open rebellion. Thousands ran to freedom
in the North and West.
Many African Americans who had escaped slavery, or who had been
born free, fought slavery on a larger scale. Let's take a look at some of
the ways African Americans took part in the fight against slavery.
Speaking and Writing Against Slavery

Both black and white abolitionists spoke out against slavery in
speeches, sermons, articles, books, and pamphlets. In 1829, David
Walker, an African American, published a pamphlet called Appeal to the
Colored Citizens of the World. Walker passionately attacked prejudice
and the cruel injustice of slavery. Referring to whites, he wrote:
They think because they hold us in their infernal chains of slavery, that
we wish to be white, or of their color—but they are dreadfully deceived
—we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator to have made us, and no
avaricious and unmerciful wretches, have any business to make slaves
of, or hold us in slavery. How would they like for us to make slaves of,
and hold them in cruel slavery, and murder them as they do us?
Walker urged slaves to fight for their own freedom. His fierce attack on
slavery alarmed authorities in the South. Officials in several states
responded by forbidding anyone from distributing abolitionist literature.
Other abolitionists sought peaceful ways to end slavery. In the 1830s,

organizations such as the American Anti-Slavery Society were created
to promote emancipation. One of the society's tactics was to send
speakers throughout the North to talk about the evils of slavery. Some
speakers were former slaves who spoke of their experiences. Others
were professional public speakers.
Charles Lenox Remond, the son of free parents in Massachusetts, was

the first African American public speaker for the society. A talented
speaker, Remond traveled all over the North, arguing for immediate
emancipation of the slaves. When he wasn't able to find a
meetinghouse, he simply stopped on the street and gathered a crowd.
This was a dangerous thing to do. Even in the North, his views
sometimes provoked violence.
Many other African Americans supported emancipation through their

writings. Jermain Wesley Loguen, a former slave, published articles in a
newspaper called the Weekly Anglo-African . Frederick Douglass ran a
newspaper called the North Star. He also wrote an influential book
called Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Other
first-person accounts of slavery were dictated to abolitionists. The
American Anti-Slavery Society used mass mailings to distribute these
accounts.
Taking Direct Action: The Underground Railroad
Both black and white abolitionists were active in the Underground

Railroad. As you have learned, the “railroad” was a secret network of

people who helped runaway slaves escape to freedom. Robert Purvis,
an African American abolitionist, was extremely important to the
success of the Underground Railroad.
Purvis was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810. His father was a
successful white cotton merchant. His mother was part African
American. When Purvis was nine, his parents brought him and his two
brothers north to Philadelphia. There he attended the Pennsylvania
Abolition Society's school.
When Purvis was 16, his father died, leaving him a fortune. Purvis used
his wealth to further the cause of freedom for African Americans. He
was a cofounder of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also gave
both money and time to help runaway slaves.
In 1831, Purvis married Harriet Forten, the daughter of an African

American businessman and abolitionist. Together they threw
themselves into the antislavery struggle. Their home was a well-known
stop on the Underground Railroad. A trapdoor in their house concealed
a secret room where runaway slaves could hide. They helped thousands
of slaves escape to freedom.
Petitioning Congress
Abolitionists, including African Americans, also fought slavery by

sending petitions to Congress. A petition is a document signed by a
large number of people asking for some action to be taken.
In 1836, the House of Representatives voted a “gag rule” to prevent all

consideration of slavery in Congress. Under the rule, Congress set aside
all petitions and letters on the subject of slavery for the indefinite
future.
The American Anti-Slavery Society fought the rule with a flood of

petitions. By 1838, abolitionists had overwhelmed Congress with
petitions including more than 400,000 signatures. Many of the
petitioners were African Americans. Abolitionists argued that the gag
rule violated their First Amendment right to petition their elected
representatives.
The petitioners found a champion in former president and

Massachusetts representative John Quincy Adams. Adams led the fight
against the gag rule in Congress. He finally defeated it in 1844.
Seeking Freedom from Courts

Many African Americans looked to the courts to grant their freedom. In
St. Louis, Missouri, African Americans filed nearly 300 “freedom
lawsuits” between 1814 and 1860.
The case of “Winny versus Phoebe Whitesides” was similar to many of

the lawsuits filed during this time. Winny was the slave of Phoebe
Whitesides. Winny based her claim to freedom on the fact that
Whitesides had taken her and her children to live in Illinois, a free state,
before coming to Missouri, a slave state. The jury agreed and declared
Winny and her children free persons.
The most well-known freedom lawsuit was the Dred Scott case. Like
Winny, Dred Scott claimed he should be free because he had lived in a
free state. A St. Louis court granted Scott his freedom. The U.S.
Supreme Court, however, overruled this decision in 1857. The Court
held that the Constitution did not recognize slaves as citizens.
Consequently, the Court said, Scott had no right to bring a legal case.
The Dred Scott case fueled people's anger over slavery and helped
pave the way for the Civil War.
Historians weigh different kinds of evidence to reconstruct the past.

Documents are one type of evidence. The fact that a document exists
doesn't mean that its contents are all true. Historians must decide how
reliable and factual a particular document is.
This essay presents several documents on two famous slave rebellions

in the United States. Read the documents carefully and then answer the
questions in the Enrichment Activity at the end of the essay.
__________________________________________________
Documents Related to the Denmark Vesey Rebellion
In 1822, Denmark Vesey was tried and convicted of planning a slave

revolt in and around Charleston, South Carolina. A prosperous free
black, Vesey was married to a slave woman. He was turned in before
the revolt could be carried out. Here are two documents about
Denmark Vesey.
Document 1: A Magazine Article
An article from the Atlantic Monthly, June 1861, by

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

Denmark Vesey had come very near figuring as a revolutionist in Hayti
[Haiti], instead of South Carolina. Captain Vesey, an old resident of
Charleston, commanded a ship that traded between St. Thomas and
Cape Français, during our Revolutionary War, in the slave-
transportation line. In the year 1781 he took on board a cargo of three
hundred and ninety slaves, and sailed for the Cape. On the passage, he
and his officers were much attracted by the beauty and intelligence of a
boy of fourteen, whom they unanimously adopted into the cabin as a
pet. They gave him new clothes and a new name, Télémaque, which
was afterwards gradually corrupted into Telmak and Denmark. They
amused themselves with him until their arrival at Cape Français, and
then, “having no use for the boy,” sold their pet as if he had been a
macaw or a monkey. Captain Vesey sailed for St. Thomas, and
presently making another trip to Cape Français, was surprised to hear
from his consignee [the person receiving the delivery] that Télémaque
would be returned on his hands as being “unsound,”—not in theology
nor in morals, but in body,—subject to epileptic fits, in fact. According
to the custom of that place, the boy was examined by the city
physician, who required Captain Vesey to take him back; and Denmark
served him faithfully, with no trouble from epilepsy, for twenty years,
travelling all over the world with him, and learning to speak various
languages. In 1800, he drew a prize of fifteen hundred dollars in the
East Bay Street Lottery, with which he bought his freedom from his
master for six hundred dollars,—much less than his market value.
From that time, the official report says, he worked as a carpenter in

Charleston, distinguished for physical strength and energy. “Among
those of his color he was looked up to with awe and respect. His temper
was impetuous and domineering in the extreme, qualifying him for the
despotic rule of which he was ambitious. All his passions were
ungovernable and savage; and to his numerous wives and children he
displayed the haughty and capricious cruelty of an Eastern bashaw
[pasha, a Turkish official].
“For several years before he disclosed his intentions to any one, he

appears to have been constantly and assiduously engaged in
endeavoring to embitter the minds of the colored population against the
white.” He rendered himself perfectly familiar with all those parts of the
Scriptures which he thought he could pervert to his purpose; and would
readily quote them, to prove that slavery was contrary to the laws of
God—that slaves were bound to attempt their emancipation, however
shocking and bloody might be the consequences—and that such efforts
would not only be pleasing to the Almighty, but were absolutely
enjoined [demanded] and their success predicted in the Scriptures….
One witness testified that Vesey had read to him from the Bible about
the deliverance of the Children of Israel…
“It is difficult to imagine,” says the sentence finally passed on Denmark

Vesey [by the judge in the case], “what infatuation could have
prompted you to attempt an enterprise so wild and visionary. You were
a free man, comely [good-looking], wealthy, and enjoyed every comfort
compatible with your situation. You had, therefore, much to risk and
little to gain.” Is slavery, then, a thing so intrinsically detestable, that a
man thus favored will engage in a plan thus desperate merely to rescue
his children from it?
Source: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, “Denmark Vesey,” The Atlantic

Monthly, volume 7, number 44 (June 1861), pages 728–744.
Document 2: A Report
Negro Plot: An Account of the Late Intended

Insurrection Among a Portion
of the Blacks of the City of Charleston, South Carolina,
by James Hamilton
On Thursday, the 30th of May last, about three o'clock in the afternoon,
the intendant [an official] of Charleston was informed by a gentleman of
great respectability… that a favourite and confidential slave of his had
communicated to him, on his arrival in town, a conversation which had
taken place at the market on the Saturday preceding, between himself
and a black man; which afforded strong reasons for believing that a
revolt and insurrection were in contemplation among a proportion at
least of our black population. The corporation [a group of city officials]
was forthwith summoned to meet at 5 o'clock, for the purpose of
hearing the narrative of the slave who had given this information to his
master.… “On Saturday afternoon last (my master being out of town) I
went to market; after finishing my business, I strolled down the wharf
below the fish-market, from which I observed a small vessel in the
stream with a singular flag; whilst looking at this object, a black man
(Mr. Paul's William) came up to me and remarking the subject which
engaged my attention, said, I have often seen a flag with the number
76 on it, but never with 96, before. After some trifling [insignificant]
conversation on this point, he remarked with considerable earnestness
to me, Do you know something serious is about to take place? To which
I replied, No. Well, said he, there is, and many of us are determined to
right ourselves! I asked him to explain himself; when he remarked,
why, we are determined to shake off our bondage.

Source: James Hamilton, Negro Plot: An Account of the Late Intended
Insurrection Among a Portion of the Blacks of the City of Charleston,
South Carolina (published in Boston by Joseph W. Ingraham, 1822).
__________________________________________________
Documents Related to the Nat Turner Rebellion
In 1831, Nat Turner led the most famous slave revolt in American
history. Turner was a slave in Southampton County, Virginia. He and his
recruits killed nearly 60 whites before the revolt was put down.
Document 3: A Newspaper Report
The Richmond Enquirer Reports on Nat Turner's

Rebellion
Richmond, Virginia
August 30, 1831
So much curiosity has been excited in the state, and so much

exaggeration will go abroad, that we have determined to devote a
great portion of this day's paper to the strange events in the county of
Southampton.... What strikes us as the most remarkable thing in this
matter is the horrible ferocity of these monsters. They remind one of a
parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down from the Alps; or rather like
a former incursion of the Indians upon the white settlements. Nothing is
spared; neither age nor sex is respected—the helplessness of women
and children pleads in vain for mercy. The danger is thought to be over,
but prudence still demands precaution. The lower country should be on
the alert. The case of Nat Turner warns us. No black man ought to be
permitted to turn a Preacher through the country. The law must be
enforced or the tragedy of Southampton appeals to us in vain.…
A fact or two, before we continue our narrative. These wretches are

now estimated to have committed sixty-one murders! Not a white
person escaped at all the houses they visited except two. One was a
little child at Mrs. Waller's, about 7 or 8 years of age, who had sagacity
[intelligence] enough to Creep up a chimney.
Source: Henry Irving Tragle, The Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831: A

Compilation of Source Material (Amherst: University of Massachusetts
Press, 1971).

Document 4: A Government Proclamation
Proclamation by John Floyd, Governor of Virginia,

September 17, 1831
Whereas the slave Nat, otherwise called Nat Turner, the contriver and
leader of the late Insurrection in Southampton, is still going at large:
Therefore I, John Floyd, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia have
thought proper, and do hereby offer a reward of five hundred dollars to
any person or persons who will apprehend [seize] and convey to the Jail
of Southampton County, the said slave Nat: and I do moreover require
all officers civil and military, and exhort the good people of the
Commonwealth to use their best endeavors to cause the said fugitive to
be apprehended, that he may be dealt with as the law directs.
Given under my hand as Governor, and under the lesser Seal of the
Commonwealth at Richmond, this 17th. day of Septemr: 1831.
John Floyd
Source: State Library of Virginia.
Document 5: A Letter
A Description of Nat Turner
Nat is between 30 & 35 years old, 5 feet 6 or 8 inches high, weighs

between 150 and 160 lbs. rather bright complexion but not a mulatto
[having one white and one black parent]—broad shouldered—large flat
nose—large eyes—broad flat feet—rather knock-kneed—walks brisk
and active—hair on the top of the head very thin—no beard except on
the upper lip, and the tip of the chin—a scar on one of his temples
produced by the kick of a mule—also one on the back of his neck by a
bite—a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, near the wrist,
produced by a blow.
Source: Governor's Office, Letters Received, John Floyd, Record Group

3, Library of Virginia.
Document 6: Trial Document
Statement of Nat Turner to His Attorney, November

1831

And about this time I had a vision—and I saw white spirits and black
spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened—the thunder rolled
in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams—and I heard a voice
saying, “Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it come
rough or smooth, you must surely bear it.”… Shortly afterwards, while
labouring in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn, as though
it were dew from heaven—and I communicated it to many, both white
and black, in the neighbourhood—and I then found on the leaves in the
woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the forms of men in
different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I
had seen before in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed
itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me—For as the
blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to
heaven for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth
again….
After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks to God. And on the 12th of
May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly
appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid
down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take
it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching,
when the first should be last and the last should be first.
Source: The Confessions of Nat Turner (published in Baltimore,

Maryland, 1831).
Document 7: A Letter to a Government Official
“Citizens” to Governor John Floyd, August 28, 1831
Richmond Aug. 28, 31.
To: His Excellency John Floyd, Governor of Virginia

Sir
There is at this moment a numerous meeting of the blacks from this
place & the surrounding country, at the Rural Shades, for the purpose,
as they allege, of Religious worship, the propriety of countenancing
[allowing] such a meeting at this time is respectfully submitted to your
consideration by several
Citizens


Document 8: A Public Document
Resolutions of Inhabitants of Chesterfield County,

Virginia, circa autumn 1861
We the inhabitants of the upper end of Chesterfield County having

amongst us an enemy that is restless in their disposition; and savage in
their nature; and feeling alarmed at the fate of the Females and
children of Southhampton, and not knownig how soon a like Tradegy
may take place amongst us. We therefore enter into the following
resolutions. Viz.
Resolution the 1st: We resolve that if any attempt should be made; that
we will as soon thereafter as possible remove our Families to the
Following places.; Viz. To the House of William L. Overton. John Spear.
and John Bass.
Resolution the 2th: We also resolve that we will petition the Governer of
the State for a Sufficiency of arms and ammunition to arm the men in
the Neighbourhood—say probably five Muskets.
Resolution the 3rd: We resolve also that we will keep a strict patrole
and we all agree that we will each bear his part of fatiegue.
Resolution the 4th: We also resolve that William Goode and William L.
Overton be appointed to wait on the Governor for the purpose of
Stating the Situation of the Neighbourhood, and request the arms &c.
as before named, and we also agree to be equally bound with them for
the return of the said arms.


Lesson 20 African Americans in The Mid 1800s

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A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N S I N...

Not all African Americans were slaves. By mid-century, there were

Whether African Americans lived in slavery or freedom, discrimination

Your country? How came it to be yours? Before the Pilgrims

The experiences of African Americans in the mid-1800s depended on

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

Many white Southerners viewed free blacks as a dangerous group that

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

In addition to unequal treatment, policies of segregation separated

Even the noblest black is denied that which is free to the

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

African Americans responded to discrimination by organizing to help

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

If we treat the North and South as separate nations . . . the

Whether they owned slaves or not, white Southerners understood that

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

Slaves worked on farms of various sizes. On small farms, owners and

He is called up in the morning at day break, and is seldom

What kind of work I did? . . . I cooked, [then] I was house

Most masters viewed their slaves as they did their land—things to be

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

We lodged in log huts, and on bare ground. Wooden floors

Slaves seldom went hungry. “Not to give a slave enough to eat,”

Slaves wore clothing made of coarse homespun linen or rough “Negro

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

Slavery was a system of forced labor. To make this system work,

Slaveholders preferred to control their workforce by making slaves feel

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

Covey's ability to instill fear in his slaves was as effective as his

Finally, Covey worked his slaves beyond endurance. Wrote Douglass,

We worked in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold;

Despite the efforts of slaveholders to crush their spirits, slaves found

Day-to-Day Resistance For most slaves, resistance took the form of

Slaves pretended to be dumb, clumsy, sick, or insane to get out of

In some instances, resistance turned deadly when house servants put

Open Defiance Quiet resistance sometimes flared into open defiance.

My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

Covey knew this and never laid a hand on Douglass again.

Running Away Some slaves tried to escape by running away to

Slaves found many ways to escape bondage. Some walked to freedom

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

Thousands of runaways escaped to free states and to Canada with the

Rebellion At times, resistance erupted into violent rebellion. Slave

In 1822, authorities in Charleston, South Carolina, learned that

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

Vesey's and Turner's rebellions panicked white Southerners. In

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

Most slaves grew up in families headed by a father and mother. Unable

Caring for children was never easy. Booker T. Washington's mother

These simple words capture the constant weariness that slaves

Many slaveholders encouraged their slaves to attend church on Sunday.

Instead, slaves created their own “invisible church” that brought

When [slaves] go round singing, “Steal Away to Jesus” that

2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute Level: A

The singing was accompanied by a certain ecstasy of

Whites sometimes criticized the enthusiasm of black worshipers, saying

Africans arrived in the United States speaking many languages and

Level: A 2019 Teachers' Curriculum Institute

This combining of cultures is evident in Harriet Powers's story quilt. In

We raise the wheat, dey gib [they give] us the corn;